7 Strategies To Control Your Thoughts (and not the other way around!)

Our mind does not often switch off (and, by the way, that is a good thing!) We think, and we think a lot. This is something we do naturally, and I want to focus on this as it is critical for you to learn how to control your thoughts as opposed to your thoughts controlling you.

What happens when something happens? You start thinking, right?, and when that something is bad, you start thinking bad, right?

We get a thought, and then another one, and then another one, and it is a continuous process. And, it happens over and over again, like a race track. Worrying is a common behaviour; even according to the Wikipedia definition, a small amount is healthy as it prompts us to take precautions (e.g., fastening your seat belt).

BUT:
What happens when your thoughts are keeping you awake?
What happens when your thoughts are keeping you in a state of fear?
What happens when your thoughts are negative, repetitive, distorted, and intrusive?

Simply put, there are destructive; they affect you, they impact your results, and your success. All starts with your thoughts.

And, I want to focus on these moments. Those moments, where we become addicted to our thoughts, addicted to our negative thoughts, and we obsess, we worry, we live in fear, we stay awake… Can you relate?

Here are my top strategies to overcome this. Remember, we can interrupt any of our behaviours; we are powerful, our mind is our best asset and we can learn how to control it for the best, and these strategies will help you interrupt this behaviour, and have a positive impact on your life.

Each of these strategies work, when, and only when, you apply them. You might like one better than the other, and by applying them all, you will find out which one is the best fit for you; this will be an individual choice. Also, you might do one after the other, and stack them, till you reach that positive and happy place.

So, a negative thought comes in…

You can ignore it; although, I would not suggest it, as this means you are not dealing with it, and suppressing it, does not make it disappear, and you are still letting it hold space, and control you.

When you start obsessing and looping, face, and apply these seven “S…” strategies to interrupt that behaviour:
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Stop
You are the boss, so as simple as this sounds, the first thing you can do is to send a command to yourself, say Stop (STOP!). A direct command, given with a firm order tone, will interrupt the behaviour, like stopping you in your track.

Swap
You can replace a negative thought by a positive one; I like to do a double swap, so, not only swap one for another one, but swap one for 2 other ones. Keep a list of positive, happy, healthy, constructive thoughts, and swap away.

Store / Share
You can store it AND this is only half of the strategy; remember, you do not want to store it, as in ignore it, you want to store it, and re-access later, by sharing it with a supportive person: a friend, a colleague, a coach, a mentor. Someone with an outside perspective, an objective one, who will help you move forward.

Switch
You can do something else: call a friend, watch a movie, go for a walk, a run… there are so many things you can do; here you want to select an activity that you can do straight away, once the negative thought comes in.

Shhh
You can go to sleep or meditate, to free your mind; you can either meditate on your own, in silence, or have your favourite music on, or thanks to a relaxation cd /track or, a visualisation, guiding you to think of something else and relax.

Speculate
This comes from Dale Carnegie, who said in his How To Stop Worrying And Start Living book, “First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.” So, ask, accept and proceed.

Scribe
You can start writing; from head to paper, write about what you are thinking to free your thinking place. Whatever is it that you are thinking as long as it stays in your head, it is a jumbo-mumbo mess (!), so write it down; and write it exactly as you are thinking it.

_________________________________

The way we think directly affects the results we get in life; our thoughts control our actions, which determine our success.Click to tweet!

Here you have them, my seven S… Strategies.

And, always remember: you control your thoughts, do not let your thoughts control you.

Until next time! 😉

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Easy to remember – 7 S’s. Thanks for that. Find myself advising clients a similar way – focusing on what they are great at, and minimizing what they are not great at; looking at the cup half full and seeking continual fulfillment. Thanks for the tips Frederique!

JohnP

Thanks for this. It is very useful to realise that you can control your thoughts rather than the other-way round. I will definitely be using some of these tips as I am a bit of a worrier even though I think I am essentially a positive person.

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi John,

Thanks for your comment.

Yes, awareness in our power and control is key to our success; the more aware we are, the more in control we are and can drive towards our goals and outcome.

Glad that these strategies will be of help. And the more you do them, the less you will actually have to do them, as you will notice a decrease in your “worry” time.

Have a fantastic week,
Frederique

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi John,

Thanks for your comment.

Yes, awareness in our power and control is key to our success; the more aware we are, the more in control we are and can drive towards our goals and outcome.

Glad that these strategies will be of help. And the more you do them, the less you will actually have to do them, as you will notice a decrease in your “worry” time.

Have a fantastic week,
Frederique

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi Warren,

Thanks for your comment.

A pleasure to share these easy and straightforward strategies; I thrive in making things easy for us to remember, and therefore apply, so, in this instance, all strategies starting by the letter S!

Have a wonderful week,
Frederique

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi Sian,

Thanks for your comment.

Great to hear you’ve enjoyed the post, and will refer to it again.

Plus, fantastic for our readers to read your comment, as you share you have successfully applied 2 of these strategies, Switch and Scribe.

Have an outstanding week,

Frederique

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi Stacie,

Thanks for your comment.

Delighted you loved it! And, yes, it is!! I am absolutely fascinated by it, and will continue to spread the news and provide techniques, strategies and tips so that we can all learn how to master it.

As I say: When you master your mindset, you free yourself to achieve the level of success you desire and deserve. #M3Power

Have a fabulous week, Frederique

IANROD2000

Thanks for the post, one of the big steps forward that I took in my life in banishing worry/not sleeping etc was to ask different questions. These basically move the focus of your mind.

So for example if I was laid off from my job, I would worry if I kept asking myself the questions along the lines of “Why me?” “Why not him, he has less experience, has been with the company less time etc etc”

However, if I ask myself the questions that just accept I have been laid off along the lines of “Where can I get a new job?” “What can I add to my resume (CV) to make it more attractive?” then I sleep soundly (as usual).

I want to improve people’s working lives for the better and your tips would certainly help, thanks for the post.

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your comment (and for the pic!).

That is a great strategy, thanks for sharing; I wrote an entire post just on that one “Why me”, a couple of weeks ago. Here is it: Tackle Your “Why Me” Moments in 5 Strategies (http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/?p=1116) if you’d like to check it out.Have a soundly week,Frederique

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi Nikhil,

Thanks for your comment; glad you liked it. We have definitely been sharing this a lot, and it is featuring in our Top 10 articles for 2012, place #2!

Have a great week,
Frederique

http://www.connectingbharat.com/ Aditya Saini

Thank you , You have helped a lot .

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi Aditya,

Thanks for your comment; I am delighted this was helpful to you!

Have a superb week,

Frederique

S J

Thank You! How great and precise article..!!

http://www.mountainmovingmindset.com/blog Frederique Murphy

Hi SJ,

Thanks for your comment.

I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the read, and found it thorough.

Have a superb week,
Frederique

Taufik Hidayat

It’s very good for me causes it can make me was motivated to do it. Thank’s so much!!!

Life Guts

Hello,

Very Great Article And Really Inspiring.

Team Life Guts

http://mountainmovingmindset.com/blog/ Frederique Murphy

Hi Team Life Guts,

Thanks for your comment.

Glad you’ve found it inspiring and helpful.

Have a wonderful week,
Frederique

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